


Chocolate, Roses and New Running Shoes

by blueelvewithwings



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Getting Together, Len Breaking Into Places Because He's A Drama Queen, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Admirer, Valentine's Day Fluff, background Goldvibe, background killerwave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-23 13:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17684561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueelvewithwings/pseuds/blueelvewithwings
Summary: Barry has a secret admirer that leaves gifts for him to find every single day. The more this goes on, the more Barry falls for whoever is trying to woo him. The closer to Valentine's Day it gets, the more nervous Barry becomes: Will his admirer reveal themselves on that day?





	Chocolate, Roses and New Running Shoes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MewWitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MewWitch/gifts).



> //I was called in to do a pinch-hit fic for MewWitch. Their prompts were really sweet, and I ended up going with #1: Barry starts receiving secret admirer gifts. At home, at work, at STAR Labs, even a boutique of flowers sent to him while visiting Team Arrow. He's unsure what to think at first, but eventually begins to look forwards to the suprises. The would appear at random at first, but starting feb 1st the began appearing daily, along with a note counting down. Barry gets super pumped as it gets closer and closer to 14th only to be saddened by no present that day. Just as the day is about to end, he gets the alert that the flash is needed, but instead of a robbery, he finds len with a rose and a dinner set up.
> 
> I took a few liberties with this one, but stuck as close to it as I could, I hope you'll like it!! Have a great Valentine's Day!

It had started the day after Captain Cold had found out about his identity. Despite the threat he‘d issued the criminal he had been a bit scared to find an upload of his identiy being streamed from some platform anyway. Snart would do just about anything to get the upper hand, after all. He was pleasently surprised when he found out that Snart had kept his word.

He was even more surprised when he found a box of high quality chocolates on his desk the next morning. He wondered who they came from, but couldn‘t find a card or anything along with it. When he asked Joe about it, he just shrugged before making a comment about Barry having a secret admirer. As if anyone would be interest in Barry like that.

The chocolates were very tasty, though. He put it aside as maybe one of the officers wanting to apologize to Barry about giving him shit for being late or for tripping over a box of evidence or something. It wasn‘t very useful if they didn‘t say who it was from but it was still good.

He paused when he found a plate of cookies the next day. And they were his favourite, too. It was just weird that he found them in the (locked) drawer of his desk, not on the desktop, as could have been expected. They were good though, and soon the plate was as empty as the chocolate box from the day before.

And from that, it just took off, somehow. Barry started to find presents everywhere. In his kitchen, at work, at Jitters, in the park, where a random stranger came up to him and said he‘d been paid to hand Barry a bouquet of flowers. They were beautiful red and yellow roses, the yellow nestled in the red in a pattern that resembled a lightning bolt, and Barry carried it home and didn‘t stop smiling the entire way.

Iris said it was creepy, and that he needed to watch out and be careful, considering whoever was leaving him the gifts obviously had keys to his apartment and locked spaces in the precinct, and Joe agreed with her very much. Cisco was just excited and always asked Barry about what presents he‘d gotten and where he‘d found them. He clearly smelled a mystery that he wanted to solve, and he was on it with gusto. He was over the moon when Barry found a little star plushie with a tag that said „I‘m over the moon for you!“ in the med bay of STAR labs, while Caitlin just raised and eyebrow and asked how a stranger could have gotten into their lab like that. Dr. Wells stayed silent on the matter but eyed the plushie warily.

Barry didn‘t put the star down all evening. He had no idea who his secret gift-giver was, who would think of him and give him a present every day, but he was a little scared to dig into it too much. What if it was a prank, what if someone did this to make him feel good, only to bring him down after? He stroked his little star plushie with a thumb, enjoying the feeling of the soft velvety texture under his hands. Who would like him enough to give him something like this, and a little something every day?

“Maybe they‘re shy and don’t want to give themselves away? Maybe they’re afraid I wouldn’t like them back? But they’re so thoughtful… I wish they’d reveal themselves.”

“Well, but what if it’s someone you really don’t like? Like… Snart, for example?”

Barry snorted and shook his heart at Cisco.

“Snart wouldn’t do something like this. He’d probably just break into my apartment and kidnap me for a date if he were interested in me like that.” But it wasn’t as if he hadn’t fantasized about it being Snart for a while before discarding that idea. Snart was a criminal, and he probably didn’t see Barry as anything but an annoying bug in his house that he wanted to get rid of.

But Snart was also amazingly perceptive, and could break into anything unnoticed, and he’d probably be able to find perfect things to gift to Barry without ever talking to him… but he shouldn’t get his hopes up. If he’d ever find out who this secret admirer was anyway. Not like they were trying to give him hints, or anything.

Barry was so startled he jumped out of bed and actually crashed into the wall when he turned over on a Monday morning and ended up with his face in the leaves and stems of another bouquet of roses, this one slipped into bed with him, next to his pillow. He seriously wondered if Iris and Joe were right about the stalkerish qualities of his secret admirer before getting caught up with how beautiful the roses were, and they soon found their place in the vase on his kitchen table – just in time to replace the previous bouquet that had started to wilt. This secret admirer really knew him frighteningly well, and yet Barry couldn’t find it in himself to be worried. If they had wanted to hurt him with their knowledge, they’d have done so by now, he was sure. And since they hadn’t, he was safe, he supposed.

He kept finding presents in increasingly weird spots, in his shower, on his way to work, in the pipeline (he’d thought he hadn’t gotten a present that day until Cisco had pointed it out to him, and Barry had never seen such a cute plush puppy in his life, he was sure of it). Once, a very confused looking Oliver had handed him a pair of running shoes, saying they’d just been delivered in the mail for Barry. They were the perfect size, of course, and Barry took them out for a leisurely jog at normal speed the next day. He nearly stumbled over a little chocolate bear in cellophane paper. It held a red heart with ‘Barry’ written on it. Barry nearly squealed right there, in the public park. He carefully took it home and placed it right next to the snow globe he’d gotten just a few days earlier.

When he used his microscope at work a while later, he found a human heart cell already on the plate, and next to it lay a card. “My heart beats for you.”

A bit creepy, but so amazing.

When February came, Cisco started making guesses what the secret admirer’s gift would be on Valentine’s day. Barry mostly tried to avoid thinking about it. The presents had clearly been of romantic nature, and he had felt himself fall more and more for the person, whoever they might be. They had a great sense of humor, and perfectly executed puns, and they knew Barry so very well and seemed to notice little details about his life that no one else seemed to take notice of. He desperately wanted to meet them, but on the other hand he was scared to see who they would be. What if face to face they wouldn’t work out? Or what if the gifts would just trail off, without Barry ever finding out who it was? He had started leaving little cards in places where he’d found presents, saying thank you and that he’d like to return the favour. He had asked for a meeting, and expressed his gratitude for the gifts. Sometimes, the cards were gone the next day, sometimes they were still there. But there was never a reply.

“Maybe they’re shy… maybe they think you won’t like them if you see them face to face”, Cisco reasoned when Barry told him about it. “Maybe they have a scarred face, or they are someone you know and you don’t like each other much?”

Barry had to think of Eddie for a short moment, but Eddie was with Iris now and they actually got along quite well by now.

Leading up to Valentine’s day, the gifts got more and more lavish. A whole spa kit in his favourite scents, a luxury cooking kit for the best pasta he’d ever eaten, a giftcard for three months of Netflix subscription – Barry would marry this person off the bat, he was sure. If he only knew who it was. He was given new sheets for his bed, silky and soft and feeling so wonderful on his skin, and a refill on the aftershave he used just before he ran out, and always wonderful roses just before he had to toss the previous bouquet out. Barry found himself stroking the tender blossoms from time to time, wondering who would give them to him and who would think so much of him.

Barry purposely did not make any plans for Valentine’s day. Cisco teased him about it endlessly, and Caitlin just rolled her eyes fondly, but Barry knew that they understood. They were hoping that

he’d get a date with a certain person still, even though they were no closer to revealing themselves than they’d been before, and Cisco’s puzzling abilities hadn’t yielded anything either, besides “I don’t think it’s someone from the precinct, they wouldn’t break into your apartment. I think”. That was very helpful, and Barry was still left wondering.

So he watched everyone make plans and pair off, and smiled when someone asked him about his own plans, citing a date with Netflix and a big bowl of popcorn while secretly hoping that he would get a better date than that still. Spending Valentine’s day alone was always so damn depressing.

On Valentine’s day itself he woke up with a grin on his face. He couldn’t wait to see what gift he would get today! Maybe his secret admirer would finally reveal themselves?

Maybe understandably, his disappointment was quite big when he got up on Valentine’s day and didn’t find anything waiting for him. But some of the gifts hadn’t been found until the afternoon or even the evening, so he tried not to be too worried. Surely his admirer wouldn’t give up now? Surely they wouldn’t leave Valentine’s day of all days and stop giving him sweet, wonderful presents? And yet, as the day went on, nothing showed up, and Barry could feel himself losing faith. Iris, despite still not being convinced of his secret admirer, tried to cheer him up, saying that it was probably just a really great present so maybe it would show up later, so that Barry would be even more happy with it. Barry tried very hard to believe her, but could feel his hope waning as the day continued and nothing showed up. He had never actively searched for a present before, they had always been situated in places that he naturally stumbled upon during the course of the day, but now he started to search for the first time. It couldn’t be that he would not receive a present on Valentine’s day, right?

He was feeling pretty down by the way he went from the precinct to STAR labs, and Cisco’s happy chattering about a date he had found for Valentine’s day certainly wasn’t helping. And that date, on top of it, turned out to be Leonard Snart’s sister. Barry tried to be happy for Cisco and secretly just wondered who Leonard would take out for Valentine’s day. Surely the man had someone, a partner he shared his life with, maybe that Rory guy? He could just see them, Snart in a smart suit, perfectly fitted, looking just about edible as he was strolling through a restaurant and to his table as if he owned the place… Barry sighed. He really should stop thinking about Snart so much. He should focus on who his secret admirer was, if anything, and why they had decided to drop him on Valentine’s day of all days.

When their alarm for a break-in went off, Barry’s shitty day was just about complete then. Cisco was already halfway out of the door to meet up with Lisa, and Caitlin was long since home, to sit in front of the TV and eat copious amounts of chocolate, according to herself. Dr. Wells was still there, but he just watched as Barry sped into his suit and then took off. But then it was Wells’ voice in his ear, not Cisco’s, so he supposed Wells had send Cisco home. Or well, off to meet his date. He hoped Cisco would have a better time than him tonight.

When he skittered to a halt in the front hall of the museum, the first thing that occurred to him was that it didn’t look like there’d been a break-in. No glass lying around, no smashed displays, no open gaps where things were missing. He slowly went further in, keeping Dr. Wells updated on everything he saw. Still no sign of the break-in though. He was starting to think it might just have been stupid teenagers throwing stones and setting off the alarm or something when the finally spotted it.

Rose petals, scattered on the floor in a trail that led towards the innermost room of the museum. Curious, Barry followed it. And there, right under the giant skeleton of a T-Rex, there was a table for two, with candles that were lit, two plates with dinner laid out, and the whole scene was covered in red roses and rose petals. There was a man leaning against the table, looking at Barry. Two steps further in, Barry recognised him.

“I think this was just a mistake. Nothing out of the usual, I’m going home now. Goodnight.” Barry shut off his coms just a moment before he pushed his cowl back and approached.

Leonard Snart looked gorgeous in his suit, smartly pressed and tailored to fit him just perfectly. Barry wanted to cry at the sight of it.

“This is not your usual break-in”, he commented as he got close, and he didn’t move as Snart came to stand right in front of him, resting his hands on Barry’s sides.

“Unusual break-in for an unusual day, I thought”, the criminal drawled, then indicated the rose bouquet on the table. Red roses, with yellow roses in them that formed a lighting bolt.

“Missing something today?”

Barry was too stunned for a moment to respond, but just stared at Snart. Could it be? Could it really be him? Could Snart be his secret admirer? Could he be that lucky? Could his secret admirer be the one he’d secretly longed for for longer than he cared to admit.

Snart was coming closer still, and Barry’s gaze dropped down to his lips, that mouth that kept coming closer and closer, and then he just closed his eyes and went with it. It was amazing, feeling those warm, dry, soft lips on his own, and before he knew it his own arms were wrapped around Leonard, pulling him in and holding him close as they kissed.

Once they pulled away and Barry had to look away as he tried to reign his embarrassed laughter in. But then he turned back to Leonard and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah. I missed you today.”

“Oh god, Scarlet, you’re so cheesy” was the reply, and then Leonard took his hand and led him over to the table. “Be my Valentine?”

Instead of replying verbally, Barry chose to steal another kiss from him, but that seemed to work as well. Soon, they were seated in front of a gorgeous steak dinner that Mick had cooked, as Leonard supplied.

“So you aren’t with him then? Rory… Mick, I mean?”

“Oh, you mean if we’re together? No, I think I’m too high-maintenance for Mick. And he has his sights set on someone else.” That was accompanied by a little wink, one that Barry didn’t understand, but he just smiled it away and reached across the table to take Leonard’s hand.

“And you were the one leaving me the gifts then?”

“I thought you might be someone who would enjoy getting wooed properly, with courting gifts?”

“Courting gifts?” Barry snorted, but squeezed Leonard’s hand to show he didn’t mean to hurt him.

“I think those only count if you know who they are coming from.”

“Is that your way of trying to get more presents, Scarlet?”

“Uh… maybe?” Barry knew he was blushing, but Leonard was smiling at him, so it really didn’t matter.

“Cute.” Yep. Barry was definitely blushing, and he quickly ducked his head and took another piece of the steak.

“I was hoping it would be you, but I didn’t dare let myself truly believe it might be a possibility… I thought you hated me.”

“Hate you? You’re infuriating sometimes, but so smart and courageous and the cutest puppy around, Barry. No, I couldn’t ever hate you.”

Over dinner, Barry learned about Len’s lockpicking skills and how he had found the perfect hiding spots for Barry’s presents and how he’d sometimes been in the same room as Barry when he’d found his gifts, and how he’d had to hold back from laughing that day when Barry had rolled over and accidentally pushed his face right into the roses. He’d nearly messed up and laughed out loud form where he’d been under Barry’s bed, he confessed. Barry thought that Iris and Joe would tell him that that was creepy, but he just leaned in and kissed Len’s gorgeous, laughing mouth.

“Next time you don’t have to stay under the bed, but I’d prefer not to wake up to a bunch of plants in my face anymore” he informed Len with a laugh and then leaned sideways to rest his head on Len’s shoulder. They had migrated to the wall of the room by now and were sitting on the floor, arms about one another and just talking. Barry nudged Len’s foot with his own and soon their legs were also tangled together. It felt better than anything Barry had felt in a long time.

“I’m happy it was you” he murmured after a while, and Len tightened his arms around him and pressed a kiss to his hair.

“I’m happy you didn’t run away screaming when you saw it was me” he replied, equally as quiet, and Barry smiled as he settled in against his chest. This was perfect, somehow. He wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

They would go home to Barry’s apartment later that night, and Barry would wake up to the perfect sight of a sleepy Len in his bed, and he wouldn’t get a present that day but that didn’t matter because he had Len now, and Len was more than he could ever have wished for.

Cisco didn’t stop talking about how gorgeous Lisa was that day while Caitlin wore a suspicious turtle neck sweater and just mumbled something about “damn forward pyros” and otherwise didn’t lose a word about her night. Barry assumed she hadn’t just sat in front of the TV and eaten copious amounts of chocolate. Or at least that wasn’t an exhaustive list of what she’d done. Len texted him during the day that ‘Mick said the doc of Red’s team isn’t too bad’ which apparently from him was half a marriage proposal already. Barry smiled and didn’t say anything to Caitlin, but gave her a tight hug before he sped home that day, in the waiting arms of one Leonard Snart, his not-so-secret-anymore admirer. And he was there, waiting for him, with a batch of Barry’s favourite cookies, freshly baked.

Barry might just be in love.


End file.
